Notebook loose-leaf binder



Feb. 8, 1949. s. SEGAL 2,460,850

NOTEBOOK LOOSE-LEAF BINDER I Filed March 25, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 21 CZQ44Z9 22 g 22 INVENTOR. I

' 634M041 SEGflL 26 27 v 'ATTO Y Feb. 8, 1949; s. SEGAL 2,460,850

NOTEBOOK LOOSE-LEAF BINDER Filed March 25, 1947 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 27 11 16 O INVENTOR. saw/4 65661 I A TTOFNEY i atented Feb. 8,

Samuel Sega], new York, N. ssig'ndr to Wilson-Jones Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation (if Massacnesetts Application March 25, 1941, Serial No. 736,969

This invention relates to an improved and slinplified loose leaf .binder' particularly applicable to pocket notebooks and of the type having an oscillatable stay on which a stack of sheets may be desirably and reniovably threaded on spaced prongs thereof. Broadly, one important object of the invention resides in the provision of. a strap or band appropriately secured to a'eove'r of the notebook and having bearing means for slidably and rotatably guiding an arched axle of the stay or prong carrier and embodying inclined keeper means spaced from the bearing means hilt disposed longitudinally thereof for interlockingwith and frictionally maintaining tliep'rong's of the stay fully transversely across the strap, that is. desirably closed and against rotation transversely of the strap. Another objectof the invention is to provide means struck out'of the keeper and disengageably cooperating or looking with one of the prongs'of the stay to resist linear bodily displacement of the latter. Another object of the invention is realized in the provision of a one piece relatively fiat strap disposed widthwise or the cover and comprising upstanding but inclined keeper means integral with and arranged longitudinally of the anterior portion of the-strapand provided with spaced relief indentationsfor re- 5 claims. (01. 129 24) movably alinin or registering with tne' anteiior' free terminals of downwardly and forwardl inclined rectilinear portions of the prongs or the stay to permit bodily rotation of the" spaced prongs upwardly and rearwardly away from the biased or inclined keeper means and in a dir'e'ction towards the bearin means in the matter of opening the loose leaf binder. Specifically an other object of the invention is concerned with the provision of bearing means integral with the relatively elongated body of and arranged on the" posterior part of the strap for rotatably and slidably guiding the axle of a one piece wire stay having upstanding, inverted and substantially,

u shaped and spaced prongs' provided with in'= clined or biased rectilinear portions" reinovably adapted to be in alinement with correspondingly. spaced relief indents interrupting the anterior keeper means and adapted to disengageably' but frictionally cooperate with the overlapping and tilted keeper means to hold the stay closed and against accidental opening. Other functional and structural features and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description taken with the teachings of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the notebook illustrating the loose" leaf binder eecording to my invention closed and locked,- and held against accidental opening. liig'. 2% 5, plan view' of Fig.- 1.

Ifig'. 3 is a front evational View of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an end view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, showing one oi the prong means of the stay in frictional and tight interlocking engagement with the ipstanding but biased or inclined keeper or the strap. Fig". 4A is a perspective View wire stay a Fig. 5 is avievv similar to lfbut showing the rotatably and slidab'ly guided stay closed but unlocked in which case the prongsare in registratio 'wltlith spacd in'dents Of the biased oftilted retilinear'anterior keeper. f

Fig. 6 is atransverse sectional view on the line ofthe one piece h'ibiting tiier 'tatatie and slidable stay at the" Iaqse leaf bi eer rais'dto a fully operiedposition. Fig; an an end View ofFi'gp'l. j

9 s a vi' viz; along th' lines of Fig. 1 but illustrati n a reinforced inclined keeper ernbodyi i'g ancin supmenientary means to preclude 'slidable gr uneardisplacemefit or the Stay, and

V Fig. 10 is a ransverse sectional view on the line; f 0 lfio f Fig.9.

Referring now to the drawings and partic11- larly to Figs. l-S" the loose leaf binder generally des'l'gfi't'd LL. constructed in accordance with nisflin entiori is constituted by a relatively fiat andnarrow neet meta relatively elongated strap or bar'id I0 disposed widtli'wise and preferably arranged at the fidfit end of the stack support ing' sheet I l or the .meniorandurn or note book broadly indicated [2 (Fig. 1) hailing the swingi'ntervenor l3 merged with the. 'swizig-. closu" let M. Sheets H and i lftogether er v'en'or l3 characterize an a pro- P cover for" the blocker stack'of perforated pa for sheet iiiaterial (5. shown in dash arr-quot lines; As; is wen appreciated the cover is flexible andma be Qrjasuitable card:

board, leather, imitation leather or of a plastic fidfilfisltlolli Mcr particularly; strap i is secure against. displacement by the primary fast'ni g" iiiaiis, namely the downwardly and inin tent ups s integral with the body of the strap anew the supplementary or ancillaryfasteningmeans in the form of. spaced detents or projections 11 struck out of the body of the metal strap. h Infeg .al'. itli the posterior or back margin of the strap and. arranged. longitudinally and subsockets 24 interrupting the upstanding and in- I clined or biased rectilinear flange or keeper means 25 integral with the body of the strap l6 which straddles sheet The keeper means 25 leans rearwardly towards the body of the strap to define an acute arn le therewith.

The elbows 26 and 21 at the confluence of the transversely disposed prongs 2| and longitudinally arranged but arched or bowed axle I9. of;

the one piece wire rotatable and slidable stay coa-ct with the ends or'stop means 28 and 29 of the bearing It to limit linear displacement of the stay and when elbow 26 strikes the stop or end 28 (Fig. 5) the biased or inclined fingers or terminals22 are in alinement with the relief grooves 23-of the indents or sockets 24.

By such action the prongs 2| of the stay are unlocked or disengaged from the keeper means or rectilinear flange25. Consequently the stay may be bodily rotated to permit swingabledisplacement of the prongs 2| upwardly and rearwardly from their fully closed but unlocked position illustrated in Fig. 5 to their fully opened and removed position shown in Fig. 7.

With ,the'stay fully opened, the perforated stack of sheet material or block of papers |5 as is well understood may be conveniently threaded on the inclined and now, free terminals 22. Thereafter the stay may be rotated to'its closed position (Fig. .5.) whereby forwardly and downwardly sloping terminals again are in close alinement with the spaced grooves. Subsequently, the stay is bodily and slidably shifted tomove elbow 26 away from thebearing whereby elbow 27. moves towardsand againststop 29 at which time the terminals of the inclined portions 22 of the prongs not only frictionally, wedgeably and 'remova'bly engage inclined face 29' of the tilted keeper 24 but in addition the latter preventsopening' of the prongs, that is, their accidental swinging or rotation upwardly and away from the keeper. Furthermore in the closed and frictional engagement of the terminals of the sloping portions 22 and'the lower part of keeper 25 as shown, these elements may be considered as interlocked inv that they overlap as shown in Fig. 4, consequently precluding rotation of the stay away from the keeper, however permitting bodily linear displacement of the stay when manual pressure on the latter is exerted .to overcome the frictional stress between the prongs andthe keeper.

Of course terminals of the slopin portions 22 immediately frictionally engage the inclined face 29 of the keeper after linearly passing by the grooves 23 when the stay is shifted andsuch action is retained by the camming action of the arched or bowed axle l9 on the bearing; |8; there being ample clearance as is well understood in the bore of the bearing to permit such cammingn.

The prongs 2| comprise; upstanding limbs rising vertically from elbows 26 and 21 and substantially normal to the axle |9, the rectilinear bridge portions integral with the upstanding limbs and substantially parallel to the body of the strap l0 when'the stay is in a closed relation (Fig. 1),

and the depending rectilinear sloping portions 22 integral with and forming obtuse angles with the bridge portions. In the closed relation of the stay the acute angles formed by inclined portions 22 and the body of the strap l0 are less in divergence than the acute angle between flange 25 and strap iii. For purposes of exact determination and as previously mentioned the spaced prongs are identified bynume'rals 2| and in Figs. 1 and 4A these numerals have their lead lines on the aforementioned intervening or intermediate bridge portions which merge with and are substantially normal to the straight limbs rising from the above elbows 26 and 21. By the present and simplifiedarrangement it is apparent that a more sturdy-construction against undesirable deformation of the prongs 2| is provided permitting the rectilinear bridge portions to effectively absorb the reactive thrust applied to the anterior and inclined portions 22 when wedgeably engaging the inclined abutment flange 25.

In the form according to Figs. 9 and 10 the keeper is provided with an outwardly and downwardly turned juxtapositioned web 30 for reinforcing purposes. It will also be observed that a dimple or projection 3| is struck out of the keeper 25 adjacentone of the indents 24. The projection 3| serves to removably interlock with one termin'alof the sloping portions 22 to resist accidental slidable displacement of the stay. .Thus in Figs. 9 and 10 to slidably unlockthe stay the latter is linearly shifted to snap over detent or projection 3| until it aligns with the indents or sockets 24' of the keeper 25. .Detent 3| in cooperating withone of the prongs may be said to be supplementary or ancillary locking means to resist slidable displacement of the stay and such supplementary locking 'meansis effective when the stay is closed 'andlinearly shifted to snap by detent 3|. In other aspects the form according to Figs. 9 and 10 is along the lines of the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1-8 inclusive-and in all the forms herein disclosed, the stay is rotatably and slidably but linearly associated with the hearing integrallyturned upwardly and forwardly and thendownwardly along the posterior portion of the bodyof the stay. Inall of the embodiments shown and described herein the stay is disengageablyl and frictiona-lly braked in a set position by the rearwardly inclined or tilted keeper and such action is retained by the camming action of axle i9. V

In Figs. 1 and 5, the stay is closed, although sustained, locked and unlocked respectively and insuch relations, the spaced prongs may be said to be fully across the width of the strap. In all of the forms disclosed, the stay III has its spaced prong 2| substantially normal to the arched axle V I 9 and the prongs traverse the strap in the closed relation ofthe stay. at which time the keeper means 25 when braking the prongs interlock, overlap and are in frictional relation with the prongs which of course widely straddle the bearing l8 topermit linear displacement of the stay.

Various changes may be made in details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrifi'cirig any of the advantages thereof inherent therein.

l. Aloose leaf binder; comprising, a relatively elongated strap embodying a rectilinear body having a bearing disposed along one longitudinal margin thereof, an upstanding rectilinear abutmenti fi ange biased relative to said body'and de- 8&618850 fining an acute angle therewith and spaced; from and leaning in a direction towards saidbearing and including spaced indent means, and a stay having means movably guided by said bearing and includingspaced prongmeans embodying intermediate rectilinear 'loridge portions and depending rectilinear portions defining with said bridge portions, obtuse anglesand sloping out- W rmly and downwardly towards said flange and including free terminals only wedgeably coacting with said flange when said prong means are arranged fully across said strap and out of alignment with said indent means to preclude rotational displacement of said prong means-upwardly and rearward-1y away from said flange and said depending rectilinear portions adapted on voluntary bodily linear displacement of said stay relative to said bearing to be arranged in alignment with said indent means to permit swinging of said prong means bodily rearwardly fully clear of said indent means and flange.

2. A loose leaf binder; comprising, a relatively elongated strap embodying a rectilinear body having a bearing disposed along the posterior longitudinal margin thereof, an upstanding rectilinear flange biased relative to said body and integral and defining an acute angle therewith and projecting upwardly from the anterior longitudinal edge of saidbody and leaning in a direction towards said bearing and including spaced indent means, and a stay having an axle slidably and rotatably guided by said bearing and including spaced prong means embodying upstanding substantially rectilinear limbs, intermediate substantial-ly rectilinear bridge portions substantially normal to said limbs, and integral with and depending rectilinear portions integral with and sloping outwardly and downwardly from said bridge portions towards said flange and including free terminals only wedgeably coacting with said flange when said prong means are arranged fully across said strap and out of alignment with said indent means to preclude rotational and linear displacement of said prong means relative to said flange and said rectilinear depending portions adapted on voluntary bodily linear displacement of said stay relative to said bearing to be arranged in alignment with said indent means to permit swinging of said prong means bodily rearwardly fully clear of said indent means and flange.

3. A loose leaf binder; comprising, a relatively elongated strap embodying a rectilinear body having a bearing disposed along the posterior longitudinal margin thereof, an upstanding rectilinear flange biased relative to said body and integral and defining an acute angle therewith and spaced from and leaning in a direction towards said bearing and including spaced indent means, and a stay having an axle slidably and rotatably guided by said bearing and including spaced prong means embodying upstanding limbs substantially normal to said axle, rectilinear bridge portions integral with and approximately normal to said limbs and arranged substantially parallel to said body in the closed relation of said stay relative to said strap and having depending rectilinear portions defining obtuse angles with said bridge portions and sloping outwardly and flange and said rectilinear depending portions on voluntary bodily linear'displacement of said stay relative to said bearing adapted to be shifted in alignment with said indent mean's to permit swinging of" said prong means bodily rearwardly fully clear'of said indent means and flange.

4. A loose leaf binder; comprising, a relatively elongated. one piece strap embodying a rectilinear body l iaving a bearing disposed along the posterior longitudinal margin thereof, an upstanding rectilinear flange biased relative to saidbody and integral and defining an acute angle therewith and extending upwardly from the anterior longitudinal edge of said body and leaning in a direction towards said bearing and including spaced indent means, a one piece wire stay having an arcuate axle slidably and rotatably guided by said bearing and including spaced prong means em bodying rectilinear limbs substantially normal to said axle, rectilinear bridge portions above said flange and substantially normal to said limbs and having depending rectilinear portions defining obtuse angles with said bridge portions and in part disposed above said flange and sloping outwardly and downwardly towards said flange and including free terminals only wedgeably coacting with the lower margin only of said flange when said prong means are arranged fully across said strap and out of alignment with said indent means to preclude involuntary. rotational and linear displacement of said prong means relative to said flange and said depending rectilinear portions on voluntary bodily linear displacement of said stay relative to said bearing adapted to be arranged in alignment with said indent means to permit swinging of said prong means bodily rearwardly fully clear of said indent means and flange, and detent means on said flange cooperating with at least one of said depending rectilinear portions to resist slidable displacement of said stay.

5. A loose leaf binder; comprising, a relatively elongated strap embodying a rectilinear body having a bearing disposed along the posterior longitudinal margin thereof, an upstanding rectilinear flange biased relative to said body and integral and defining an acute angle therewith extending upwardly from the anterior longitudinal edge of said body and leaning in a direction towards said bearing and including spaced indent means, and a stay having an axle slidably and rotatably guided by said bearing and including spaced prong means embodying upstanding limbs, rectilinear bridge portions above said flange and depending rectilinear portions defining with said bridge portions obtuse angles and sloping outwardly and downwardly towards said flange and 7 including free terminals wedgeably coasting with the lower margins only of said flange when said prong means are arranged fully across said strap and out of alignment with said indent means to preclude involuntary rotational and linear displacement of said prong means relative to said flange and said depending rectilinear portions on voluntary bodily linear displacement of said stay relative to said bearing adapted to be arranged in alignment with said indent means to permit swinging of said prong means bodily rearwardly fully clear of said indent means and flange, said depending rectilinear portions defining with said body acute angles slightly less in divergence than the acute angle formed by said body and rectilinear flange.

SAMUEL SEGAL.

(References on following page) REFERENCES" 'CI TEfl "Thefolidwihg references are of record iii the fileof this patent:' 1

UNITED STATES PATENTS I Date Number Name 735,973 Harsha Aug. 11, 1903 Dawson Mar. 2, 1937 Number Great Britain Dec. 21, 1939 

